he Practical Relationships between Lean Construction Tools and Sustainable Development: A literature review

Abstract

The construction industry is considered among the largest consumers of natural resources (non-renewable materials, fossil fuels, water...). It is also an important source of generation of solid waste and greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to its negative impacts on the environment, most construction projects are characterized by the non-respect of the triptych (Cost, Time, Quality) and a high accident rate compared to other sectors. Lean construction (LC) is a new production philosophy which has the potential of bringing innovative improvements in the construction sector. It is a systemic approach to meeting customer expectations by maximizing added value and reducing all forms of waste. Based on international standards (AFNOR, GRI, UNEP, ISO 26000...) and recent researches published in the most reliable databases, this study aims at exploring the concept of sustainable development in the context of the construction industry and examines how the LC tools (Prefabrication, Value Stream Mapping, Poka-Yoke, visual Management, and 5S) can have an impact on the three dimensions of sustainable development (environment, economy, society). This work brings a new reflection by constructing an interaction matrix between the Lean Construction tools and sustainable development.

Development of a Conceptual Framework of Lean Construction Principles: An Input–Output Model

“…21 Therefore, reducing the share of non-value-added activities is one of the key strategies for improving the productivity of a construction process. 90 The main sub-principles of waste elimination are shown in Table 6.…”

“…Poka-Yoke, a Japanese word, is a mechatronics device operating as a mistake-proo¯ng in order to automatically prevent defects from°owing through the process. 90 Response to defect/Root causes analysis (Ishikawa, Pareto, Thē ve why's)…”

“…6,162 Transparency Visual management Visual management helps make the construction process simple, transparent, and safe for all stakeholders on construction site. 90,152 Work place organization The 5S process is considered among the most famous technique that allows reducing damage to equipment/materials by improper storage, keeping the construction site more organized than before, and increasing the safety of personnel. 9,152,167…”

The potential effectiveness of lean construction principles in reducing construction process waste: an input-output model

“…The staff awareness of the criticality of quality defects on the profitability of the company promotes a mutual responsibility to avoid the occurrence of such failures. [27] People involvement Employee involvement in the problem-solving phase can generate creative solutions that reduce the frequency of occurrence of defects. [6] Planning & Scheduling LPS allows accomplishing the planning of tasks according to the moral and physical capacity of the labors which minimizes the defects that are generated in the case of complex and too hard works.…”

Achieving Sustainability in the Construction Supervision Process

“…In order to ensure the quality and safety of the construction operations, the role of supervision considerably increased [15]. Supervision of the construction process should ensure that the objective of sustainable development is taken into account in all phases of construction in order to protect the interests of present and future society [16]. There are different objects and elements of sustainability in different phases of the construction process [17] that should be evaluated during the supervision process in order to translate the principles of sustainable development to the construction process [18].…”